Creator Of TV's “Party Of Five” To Speak At ‘Berg
Screenwriter Christopher L. Keyser, award-winning television writer and executive producer of “Party of Five,” will present a talk at Muhlenberg College, "The Craft and Commerce of Television," on February 28 at 7 p.m. in the Lithgow Science Auditorium (Trumbower 130). This event is free and open to the public.Friday, February 24, 2006 01:59 PM
Keyser's talk will offer an insider look at the business of making television, exploring how changing economic realities affect television's tenuous status as "art," and its questionable ability to hold an accurate mirror up to 21st century American society.
After receiving degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Keyser began his career as a political speechwriter. He was Bruce Babbitt’s speechwriter during the Arizona Governor’s Presidential campaign in 1988 and wrote for the DNC and for Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Keyser left the political world in the late 1980s to begin a career in screenwriting. He has written for Miramax, Twentieth Century Fox and Simpson/Bruckheimer among others, producing such less-than-notable works as “Benefit of the Doubt” a film starring Donald Sutherland and Amy Irving. In 1989, Keyser joined with his partner, Amy Lippman to write for television. Using Keyser’s law background, they began by writing shows such as “LA Law,” “Equal Justice,” and short-lived series based on the film “True Believer.” In 1991, they joined the NBC series “Sisters,” leaving three years later as co-executive producers.
In 1994, Keyser and Lippman created the television series “Party of Five” for Columbia Television and the Fox Network. “Party of Five” ran for six years, becoming one of the signature shows of the network. In 1995 Time magazine called it “… the best drama on television.” For their work, Keyser and Lippman have been twice nominated for The Golden Globe, and in 1995 were awarded the Golden Globe for Best Television Series, Drama. The have been nominated multiple times for the Humanitas Prize, winning for the “Thanksgiving” episode of the series. In addition, they have received the Shine Award, The Nancy Susan Reynolds Award, and the Prism Award.
In its ten-year association with Columbia Television, Keyser-Lippman Productions created a number of additional series, including “Significant Others” which ran on Fox in 1988, and “Time of Your Life” which ran on Fox from 1999 to 2000. HarperCollins published the book “The Showrunners” based, in part, on the work of Mr. Keyser and Ms. Lippman. In the past year, Keyser-Lippman has shifted its focus back to feature films.
